SACRAMENTO, Calif. –
In a bout that moved in fits and starts, interim WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson took the undisputed WEC lightweight belt from Jamie Varner when he capitalized on a mistake.

Varner was game to be the aggressor of the fight,
controlling the pace with short bursts of action that put Henderson a
step behind up until the final sequence.

The tense contest served as the main event for Sunday’s “WEC 46: Henderson vs. Varner” event at ARCO Arena in Sacramento, Calif. The main card of the show aired live on Versus.

The Arizona Combat Sports fighter looked to be on point from the opening bell, trapping Henderson in a guillotine and throwing a vicious knee to the head. But as Henderson has proven before, unless he goes out, he’s not out of the fight.

In the third, Varner caught a knee that took his base from him as he shot in. Henderson wrapped his left arm around the champion’s head and climbed his torso for a standing guillotine choke. Varner had no choice but to tap out.

“Jaime Varner’s a tough, scary looking dude,” the Christian Henderson said after praising the man upstairs. “I was a little intimidated at first. Like, he wants to hurt me, … such hostility. Thankfully, I came out on top.”

As to his next step, Henderson said he would dance with whomever the WEC desired, including a rematch with Donald Cerrone, whom he defeated by split decision this past October.

Varner, still the crowd’s heel, threw gasoline on the fire by disparaging Henderson’s performance.

“I came to fight,” Varner said. “Ben was the better man. He caught me in a guillotine. He’s a studly dude. I wanted to box, … he wanted to kick. (Expletive) happens.

“I was winning that fight. All he was doing was throwing were body kicks. I had the takedowns, I had the control. He didn’t want to box. I came to fight, Ben came to grapple. Two different things.”

Hometown hero Urijah Faber gave fans their money’s worth in a triumphant return to action in the co-main event of the evening.

Faber, a once-dominant featherweight champion, lost little of the speed that made him a favorite after a seven-month absence due to a broken right hand.
That hand, in fact, served as a deciding weapon in his victory.

Opponent Rafael Assuncao refused to play a quick victim, keeping a strong base that forced Faber to work for every position. More than once, Faber found himself in a firefight, but mostly gone were the high-risk attacks that had gotten him in trouble in past appearances.

In the second frame, Assuncao was ready when the action went to the ground, rolling for a submission attempt and deftly avoiding a guillotine attempt in transition to deliver a right knee to Faber’s head.
Faber, however, stayed on course and delivered a huge right hand to Assuncao’s jaw that threatened to end the night. “The California Kid” took note and took the round by working from top position with punches and elbows.

The two were in the open in the third round when Faber lead with his right hand and put Assuncao (14-2, 2-1 WEC) down, setting up a ground-and-pound attack that forced the Brazilian to scramble to his feet. When he did, Faber leapt on his back and secured the fight-ending rear-naked choke.

Afterward, the WEC set the hype train in motion by bringing current featherweight champ Jose Aldo center-cage.

“I respect Urijah, but no one takes my belt,” Aldo said to the inevitable boos.

Despite straighter punches and an overall more technical stand-up game, Jansen could not rock the former-Olympian Shalorus with his best shots. And when it became clear that he couldn’t take the action down to the floor, it was going to be a long night for the Portland, Ore., native.

Each time the two went toe-to-toe – and it was often – Shalorus’ heavy hands and wild hooks damaged Jansen badly.

Jansen got a gold star for effort with a relentless forward attack, but until he shifted his lead-in to include a few lunging knees at the ducking Shalorus, there wasn’t much doing. Diving at the Iranian-born fighter’s legs didn’t yield better results, either.

“I know Dave Jensen is good wrestler, but I am a world-class wrestler,” Shalorus said later. “I’m an Olympian. I’m a world champion. Nobody can take me down.”

Aside from a hard shot that briefly took him to a knee, Shalorus didn’t bat an eye at any of the punches he took and continued to swing for the fences. Conversely, when Shalorus decided he wanted the action down, he got it there, though Jansen did an exceptional job of minimizing any damage from up top.

But after three rounds of heavy shots, the evidence of the fight’s winner was written on Jansen’s (14-1 MMA, 1-1 WEC) face, a stream of blood etching his featured at the final bell. All three judges gave the fight to Shalorus (6-0-1 MMA, 2-0 WEC) with two 30-27 scores and one 29-28 tally.

“My next fight is up to WEC,” Shalorus told a surprisingly salty audience. “I’m ready.”

Brown makes quick work of Morrison, Taurosevicius outlasts Semerzier

Top featherweight contender Mike Brown once again faced a partisan Sacramento crowd, but this time didn’t spend 25 minutes suffering through its wrath. Instead, the former WEC champ made quick work of opponent Anthony Morrison.

Morrison tried to keep the American Top Team fighter at bay with lighting-fast kicks, but it wasn’t long before he was pressed against the cage fighting to keep his feet.

Brown, who had left Sacramento fans with a bad taste in their mouths seven months earlier by besting Faber a second time, reminded WEC fans of his mat prowess by dragging Morrison down and locking in a crucifix position. He was ready when the inevitable escape came, taking mount position and easing into back control as Morrison (15-8 MMA, 0-1 WEC) rolled to avoid the bad spot.

When the newcomer flattened out, Brown locked a Gable grip and segued to a traditional rear-naked choke for the tapout at 1:54 of the first frame.

The boos outshone the cheers as Brown took the mic afterward.

“I got a little bit a boos, a little bit of cheers; I’m just happy that the fans care about the fight,” Brown said as the jeers got louder. “I get no love here … c’mon guys.”

Boos aside, Brown (23-5 MMA, 5-1 WEC) said the victory was just what he needed to soldier on.

“I just wanted to win so badly, and I hate to lose any fight,” he continued. “It’s very important that you don’t drop two in a row, but I’m back on track and I want to get a shot back at that title.”

Taurosevicius set the tone early by dumping Semerzier to the mat after shrugging off a guillotine attempt.
Semerzier, who made his promotional debut at WEC 43 with an upset submission victory over Wagnney Fabiano, popped up quickly, but he couldn’t plant his feet before the Lithuanian mixed martial artist charged in and took the action down to the canvas repeatedly.

In the second round, Semerizer nearly snagged his signature triangle choke after finding himself on the losing end of a takedown, but the experienced Taurosevicius stayed cool and made his home in top position, where he rained down punishment and racked up points.

Semerzier got after it in the third frame, chasing Taurosevicius down with hard and fast kicks, but it was a tight guillotine that had the audience on the edge of their seats through the final seconds of the fight. For a moment, it looked like Taurosevicius’ domination might be for naught, but he – and the audience – took a fresh breath of air when he popped his head out of the hold, sealing a victory.

All three judges agreed, scoring it 29-28 for Taurosevicius (12-3 MMA, 2-0 WEC), his second consecutive win in the WEC. Meanwhile, Semerzier (5-1 MMA, 1-1 WEC) loses for the first time as a professional.

Valenica edges Tamura, Fabiano smothers Godfrey in featured prelims

In the evening’s final preliminary card, longtime veteran Charlie Valencia had the California crowd firmly behind him from bell to bell. And the support was well-deserved, as Valencia fought valiantly in the face of a non-stop Akitoshi Tamura attack.

Tamura utilized kicks from distance to constitute his striking attack, while Valencia worked hard to close the gap and throw punches from inside. The grappling was equally even in the first frame, as Valencia pounded away from top position while Tamura sought subs from underneath.

The second frame wasn’t nearly as close, and Tamura nearly finished the fight. Leaping to Valencia’s back, Tamua secured a figure-four around his opponent’s standing frame. Tamura worked hard for the rear-naked choke for several minutes, and he appeared to secure the hold as time wound down. But Valencia wouldn’t give up, and he lasted until the bell.

In the third, the momentum swung in the other direction. Valencia opened up his striking arsenal and pushed forward, visibly rocking his opponent on several occasions. The action was exciting until the final bell, and with the round clearly in Valencia’s favor, the final result would come down to three judges’ view of the opening round.

Two of them saw the first round, and thus the fight, in Valencia’s favor, and he was awarded the split decision.

Valencia (12-5 MMA, 5-3 WEC) ran his win streak to three fights, and he may soon be playing an important role in the WEC’s bantamweight title picture. Tamura (14-8-2 MMA, 1-2 WEC) falls to 1-2 in the promotion.

In his first fight at 135-pounds, Brazilian submission ace Wagnney Fabiano didn’t deliver the most exciting fight of his career, but he certainly issued one of the most effective results.

Late replacement Clint Godfrey, who took the fight on less than two-weeks’ notice was forced to defend from his back for most of the 15-minute affair. Fabiano’s most effective submission attempt was a keylock in the first, but Godfrey defended well by securing his own legs around the hold.

Godfrey hit one sweep in the second round, but Fabiano returned the favor quickly, and the result of the bout became apparent. Fabiano kept up the strategy for the remainder of the contest and earned the unanimous decision while sweeping all three rounds on all three cards.

Fabiano (13-2 MMA, 3-1 WEC) bounces back from his shocking loss to Semerzier in October, while Godfrey delivers a gutsy performance (11-2 MMA, 0-1 WEC) in his WEC debut.

Hominick catches Caraway, Wineland outstrikes Roop

WEC newcomer Bryan Caraway fought valiantly for much of the first round of his bout with Canadian Mark Hominick. Caraway worked the fight to floor and neutralized the dangerous striking of his opponent while simultaneously controlling the action on the floor. Then in a flash, it all changed.

After nearly nailing a deft sweep from his back, Hominick latched his legs around his opponent’s neck. With the triangle choke in position, Hominick turned his attention to Caraway’s arm. Hominick wrenched the limb, and Caraway had no choice but to tap at the 3:48 mark of the first frame.

Hominick (17-8 MMA, 1-2 WEC) earned his first WEC victory in three tries with the organization, and he thanked the company’s executives for the second chances. Meanwhile, late-replacement Caraway (14-4 MMA, 0-1 WEC) sees a three-fight win streak snapped, though he probably fought well enough to earn another shot in the organization.

The evening’s second preliminary bout turned into a boxing clinic, but the lessons were only being taught by one fighter.

Despite enjoying a significant reach advantage in his first contest at 135 pounds, George Roop simply couldn’t effectively utilize the length. Former WEC champ Eddie Wineland moved in and out of reach while utilizing an accurate right hand to bloody Roop’s nose.

Just as he did against Manny Tapia at WEC 43, Winleand outboxed his opponent for 15-straight minutes en route to the unanimous-decision win.

Roop (10-6 MMA, 0-1 WEC) loses in his WEC debut, while Wineland (16-6-1 MMA, 3-2 WEC) has now won four of his past five outings.

Campuzano batters Wheeler en route to one-sided decision

WEC officials couldn’t have drawn up a better fight to open the night’s action as bantamweights Will Campuzano and Coty “Ox” Wheeler stood toe-to-toe for 15 minutes.

The Sacramento crowd roared in appreciation of the action as Campuzano delivered a barrage of flying knees, straight punches and powerful high kicks. Wheeler worked the fight to the floor on a few brief occasions, but he generally ate leather while there.

Wheeler (10-3 MMA, 1-3 WEC) showed an unquestionable heart as he faced the onslaught, but the non-stop assault from Campuzano led to a one-sided unanimous decision win with two scores of 30-27 and one of 30-26.

Following the win, Campuzano said he was gunning for a rematch with top 135-pounder Damacio Page, who submitted the Texan in his WEC debut.